Ex vivo digestion of omega-3 enriched buffalo skimmed milk

• Milk was fortified by adding cod liver oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids.
• The fortified milk was digested in ex vivo using human gastrointestinal enzymes.
• Allergenic milk protein digestion, peptides and lipolysis of lipid were recorded.
• Cod liver oil addition did not affect the protein digestion and peptide generation.
• Neutral lipid underwent 32% lipolysis and so for omega-3 fatty acid was 23%.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the protein digestion in skimmed buffalo milk was affected by adding cod liver oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acid to the milk. Human gastrointestinal enzymes were used in ex vivo digestion. After gastric and duodenal digestion, 32% of the neutral lipid underwent lipolysis. Both the omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic (C20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic (C22:6 n-3) acid showed 23% lipolysis. Most of the caseins were degraded after 20 min gastric digestion; the tiny traces found after 40 min gastric digestion were digested completely after 5 min duodenal digestion. The α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin were resistant to gastric digestion, however, readily digested after 5 min duodenal digestion. Addition of cod liver oil did not affect the milk protein digestion and subsequent peptide generation. Thereby, enrichment of skimmed milk by cod liver oil could be a good nutritional source of omega-3 fatty acids.